'Justin was loved': Mourners say goodbye to friend, athlete Justin Shilling

Hundreds of people — family, friends in varsity letter jackets and community members — gathered in their grief at the Boulder Pointe Golf Club in Oxford on Thursday for a visitation and, later, a funeral honoring the affable 17-year-old Justin Shilling, a friend to so many and one of four students who died after being shot last week at Oxford High School.

Those in attendance spoke about Justin's outgoing personality and his thoughtfulness, his love for his family and for the friends he treated like family.

Justin's middle school Chinese teacher, Shuyu Hsu, recalled his temperament as well as his rapidly acquired proficiency of the language. "He is a star student," she said. "You will remember him the first day of school. He is polite. He makes you feel you're special." Hsu said when Justin learned she was teaching at the high school this year, "the first thing he did was find me and give me a hug."

More: Replay: Funeral for Oxford victim Justin Shilling, scholar, athlete and friend

Justin, who became an organ donor, was a member of the school's bowling and golf teams. As a tribute, mourners were offered a golf ball and a lapel pin. Printed on the golf ball:

"Justin Shilling

Be a hero

Give the Gift of Life"

Justin was shot on Nov. 30, allegedly by a 15-year-old student armed with a semiautomatic handgun. The following day he became the fourth student to die in the mass shooting that left seven others, including a teacher, injured and a small-town community shaken to its core at the horror and the unfairness of it all.

Poster-sized photos of a broadly smiling Justin were displayed around the large high-ceilinged banquet room Thursday's events.

A small circular room at one end was devoted to Justin's athletic career — photos of him with the bowling team, photos of him with the golf team. Nearby, two large screens played montages of family photos showing a rosy-cheeked boy growing into a sturdy, curly-haired young man

An open casket at the other end of the room held Justin, who wore a black suit and a black bow tie, a rosary draped over his folded hands. Behind it, a dark blue banner featuring the high school's Wildcats motif.

Next to the casket was a folded American flag labeled as the one that U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly, requested be flown over the state capitol last week in honor of Justin's achievements during his short life.

"He was just a very friendly, active guy, very athletic — someone everyone liked," said Sam Huller, a 2020 Oxford graduate now studying special education at Michigan State University. Huller said he was friends with Justin's older brother and had come to know Justin well.

As the funeral got underway, Father Michael Goddard, the chaplain at McLaren Oakland Hospital in Pontiac, who consoled Justin's parents when he was brought to the hospital after the shooting, said:

"I’d like to begin with a reading: Remember me. To the living, I am gone. To the sorrowful I will never return. To the angry, I was cheated. But to the happy, I am at peace. To the faithful, I have never left. I cannot be seen, but I can be heard. So as you stand upon a shore gazing upon a beautiful sea, remember me. As you look in awe at the mighty forest and its grand majesty, remember me. Remember me in your heart, your thoughts, your memories of the times we loved, the times we cried, maybe the times we fought. The times we laughed. ... If you always think of me, I will never be gone.”

That was the message of the service. That Justin will live forever in the hearts of those who remember him.

"Justin was loved as a son, a brother, a grandson, a nephew, a great nephew, a cousin, a student, an athlete and a friend," Goddard said. "As one who gifted life to others, he was and is loved in so many ways."

During the service, Goddard talked about Justin's love for University of Michigan football, "The Office," and music — everything from Sinatra to Tupac.

Goddard closed the eulogy with a quote from Winnie the Pooh: "If ever there is a tomorrow when we're not together, there is something you must remember. ... You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is even if we're apart, I'll always love you. I'll always be with you. ...."

At the end of the funeral service, bagpiper Donald Ross of Rochester Hills played “Amazing Grace” as mourners either filed up to the casket or walked out of the room. He said he’d also piped at the services for Hana St. Juliana, 14, and Tate Myre, 16, two other students who died in the Oxford shooting.

More: Hundreds gather to remember Tate Myre

More: 'She was the most beautiful flower I will never forget': Oxford mourns Hana St. Juliana

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Justin's family was his foundation, according to his obituary. "Justin somehow made every member of his extremely vast immediate and extended family ... know they were very special to him," said the obituary published on the Chas. Verheyden Funeral Homes website, www.verheyden.org.

He liked to go out on the town with his mother and out into the woods, hunting and fishing with his father. "Justin's capacity for family love was so huge that he made "family" out of his best friends and their families, perpetuating such a sense of love and togetherness that we are all humbled by it."

"Justin not only played sports but supported his teams vigorously," the obituary said. "He loved going to school football games, making it to most games especially this, his senior year, and cheering the (Oxford) wildcats on every chance he got."

Justin worked outside of school. At 13, he started working at a Thai restaurant, manning the register and phones, making appetizers, serving customers. From there he moved to other local restaurants, including Anita's Kitchen in Lake Orion and Red Knapp's in Rochester. He also worked at the senior living community, Independence Village — Waterstone, in Oxford.

"This is where he honed his skills of patience, kindness and being present, caring for the seniors either delivering their meals to their rooms or serving them in the dining hall, engaging them in conversation and making many friends," his obituary reads. "To say Justin made an impression would be vastly understating his role as friend and companion to the seniors and staff."

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Mourners say goodbye to Oxford school shooting victim Justin Shilling